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Car Manufacturers
Here we aim to provide a brief history of the most popular
manufacturers of car and commercial vehicles. The chart below
offers a useful comparison of the top 14 manufacturers production
levels.
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List
of the top 14 Car & Light Commercial Vehicle
Manufacturers 2004
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Directory & Histories
Alfa
Romeo
Alfa Romeo was originally known as ALFA, which stood for Anomina
Lombarda Frabbrica Automobili but were founded as "Darracq
Italiana" in 1907 by Cavaliere Ugo Stella in partnership
with the French car company Alexadndre Darracq.
The company first began production in Naples but moved to
Milan and changed its name to ALFA when the partnership collapsed.
And in 1920 the company was renamed Alfa Romeo in 1920 after
the Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romao took over.
The company went broke in 1928 when the government defense
contracts ended but was rescued in 1933 by the government.
After the factory was bombed in the Second World War it struggled
to return to profitability and in 1986 the Fiat takeover occurred
with the assistance of the authorities, forming Alfa Lancia
Spa.
In 1995 Alfa Romeo stopped exporting cars to the US and although
there have been regular rumours about their return, nothing
official has been announced.
Other useful resources:
Aston
Martin
Aston Martin Lagona LTD is a British car manufacturer based
in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. Today Aston Martin is
part of the Premier Automotive Group which is a division of
Ford Motor Company.
The company was founded by Lionel Martin
and Robert Bamford. The pair used to sell cars made by Singer
but in 1914 they decided to make cars. And in 1915 the first
Aston Martin rolled off their Abingdon Road premises in Kensington.
In 1925 the company was taken over
by a number of wealthy investors including Lord Charnwood
and the company was renamed Aston Martin Motors. In 1936 with
change of ownership with the arrival of Sir Arthur Sutherland
the company moved to solely focus on road cars.
In 1947 David Brown Limited brought
the company and also acquired Lagonda which they shared resources
and workshops with until their move to a new site at Tickford
Street, Newport Pagnell.
Other useful resources:
Ashok
Leyland
This is a commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in
Chennai, India.
Audi
Audi is a wholy-owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and
is headquatered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. They tagline
"Vorsprung durch Technik" translates to "Advantage
through Technology".
The company can trace its history to 1899 and August Horch
but was forced out of the company he founded in 1910 and began
using the Horch name in his new venture. However, he was forced
to refrain from using the name by a court.
From this court case Horch had to create a new brand. With
the word translating to "listen" in Old German,
Horch formed a new company with the latin translation - "Audi".
In 1928 , the company was acquired by J. S Ramussen who owner
of DKW. During 1929 Audi launched two cars that used the equipment
gained from the purchase of the US manufacturer Rickenber
to power the Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models.
The group was headquartered in Zwickau eastern Germany, however
with the end of the Second World war, Zwickau became part
of the German Democratic Republic. In response to this Audi
moved its headquarters to Ingolstadt.
In 1958, Daimler-Benz acquired an 88 per cent stake in Auto
Union and in 1959, it became the sole owner. In 1969, Audi
merged with NSU based in Neckarsulm near Stuttgart.
During the 1970's to the 1980's Audi's image was tarnished
by having caused focused on producing "grandfather's
cars". However during the 1990's Audi started to see
strong growth in the demand for their cars. In 2004 they saw
the 11th straight year of sales growth with 779,441 vehicles
worldwide.
Other useful resources:
Bedford
Vehicles
Bedford used to be a subsidiary of Vauxhall Motors until it
was sold in 1986.
BMW
BMW stands for Bayerische Moteren Werke AG or in English Bavarian
Motor Works and is the parent company of BMW Mini and Rolls-Royce.
The company was founded
in 1913 by Karl Friedrich Rapp as an aircraft engine manufacturer
and called Bayeerische Flugzeug-Werke. By 1916 the company
was refinanced to take advantage of a contract to build engines
for Austria-Hungary, changing its name to BMW GmbH.
After over expansion
the company was taken over by the Austrian industrialist Franz
Josef Popp in 1918 an again renamed BMW AG.
With the creation of
the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany was prohibited from
production of aircraft so BMW switched production to manufacturing
railway brakes.
In 1919 BMW designed
their first motorcycle engine for the Victoria and then in
1923 they built their first model motorcycle, the R32.
In 1927 the Dixi was
produced under license from Austin and the following year
BMW bought the Dixi Company and the Dixi became BMW's first
car, the BMW 3/15.
During World War Two
BMW had an unsavory history as they made vehicles and weapons
used by the German forces including rocket based engines such
as the BMW 003 jet engine. Furthermore, they have admitted
to using between 25,000 and 30,000 slave labourers including
inmates of concentration camps during that period.
After the War BMW was
banned from manufacturing for three years and did not produce
a car until 1952. However, the factories in East Germany produced
cars for the ruling Soviets (by Eisenacher Motor-Werke) and
called them BMW's until the Bavarian company prevented use
of their trademarks. The Eisenacher Motor-Weke company hence
rebranded their vehicles EMW shortly afterward.
The first range of
cars after the war were largely unsuccessful as they tried
to get into the luxury market. By the late 1950's BMW started
selling bubble cars such as the Isetta. Around this period
the board nearly sold the company to Daimler-Benz but a major
shareholder, Herbert Quandt resisted at the last minute under
pressure from workers and unions. Quandt subsequently increased
his shareholding to 50% against the advice of his bankers
and was instrumental in turning the company around.
Other useful resources:
Chrysler
Formerly a USA-based company, Chrysler is part f the German-American
based DaimlerChrysler AG after being purchased by Daimler-Benz
in 1998.
The company was formed
in 1925 by Walter Percy Chrysler and found the Plymouth brand
in 1928 to target the low to medium end of the market.
Chrysler aimed for
a 5 brand marketing strategy and launched the Chrysler Airflow
to target the higher end of the market. This model proved
unsuccessful and created financial difficulties which lead
the company to create unadventurous models until the 1960's
with the introduction of the Plymouth Barracuda in 1964.
The oil crises of 1973
caused problems with Chryslers large-engined models and in
1977 Chrysler Europe essentially collapsed with its sale to
Peugeot.
In 1979 Chrysler petitioned
the US Government for US$1 billion in loan guarantees to avoid
bankruptcy. After pressure from workers to prevent the loss
of their jobs, Congress agreed. The motors that were developed
afterwards, such as the K-car and the minivan helped the company's
stability and allowed the company to start repaying the loans
early in the 1980's.
In 1998 it was stated
that Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz but in later years
it was mooted that operationally it was Daimler-Benz that
were dominant player. The beginning of the 21st Century saw
another financial crises and a broad range of cost-cutting
measures were introduced. The new Chrysler Crossfire was the
first result of this strategy.
Other useful resources:
Citroen
Citroen is a French car maker started in 1919 by André Citroën
with headquarters located in Paris. Originally it was a mass-market
producer of cars, but in 1934 they created the highly original
Traction Avant. It was not until the 1980's that Citroen was
known for designing unique cars.
In 1928 Citroen became
the first company to offer an all-steel body in Europe. However,
when their competitors started to use wooden framed cars the
financial pressures mounted.
In 1934 the company
faced foreclosure and was bought by its biggest creditor,
Michelin.
The first use of the
companies legendary hydropneumatic suspension system was used
in the DS model. The DS was a revolutionary car in other ways
with power steering, power brakes, semiautomatic gearbox and
directional headlights.
In 1967 Citroen bought
the Italian sports car maker, Maserati. However, this purchase
proved a huge failure. Coupled with this, the huge warranty
costs of the GS the company was forced to sell its assets
to Peugeot. With the resulting cost cutting and development
of popular models, Citreon planned a global production of
1,000,000 cars in 2005.
Daimler
Chrysler
Based in Stuttgart, Germany and Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA.
Formed in 1998 with the merger of Daimler-Benz and the Chrysler
Corporation.
Ferrari
Ferrari is an Italian manufacturer of high-end race cars and
high performance road cars and was formed by Enzo Ferrari
in 1929 but is now controlled by Fiat Group and based in Maranello,
near Modena, Italy.
Fiat
The name Fiat is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili
Torino (Italian Car Factory of Turin) was founded by a group
of investors, including Giovanni Agnelli in 1899.
Foden
Trucks
Originally formed in 1887 to produce steam lorries, the company
moved to produce diesel powered vehicles in 1931.
Ford
The Ford Motor Company was formed by Henry Ford in Dearborn
Michigan, USA and was incorporated in 1903. Ford have been
one of the market leaders since the early 20th Century but
was surpassed by Toyota in 2004 in terms of revenues, although
it still remains one of the world's top ten largest corporations
by this measure.
DAF
Since 1949 DAF(based in Eindhoven) started producing trucks
and buses.
GMC
Formally known as GMC Truck, GMC is a premium brand of trucks,
vans and SUVs and is a division of General Motors.
Honda
Honda is a Japanese manufacturer of cars, trucks, motorcycles
and scooters and was founded in 1948.
Hyundai
In Korean Hyundai means "modern". The company was
founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as a construction company.
At one time Hyundai was South Korea's biggest conglomerate,
but was split into five businesses in 2003 which includes
Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Group, Hyundai Department Store
Group, and Hyundai Development Group.
Isuzu
This is a Japanese motoring manufacturer based in Tokyo and
is most well-known for producing commercial vehicles and diesel
engines. In 2003 alone they made 16 million diesel engines
alone which can be found in vehicles all over the world.
Jaguar
Originally an British manufacturer, it is now owned by the
Ford Motor Company.
Kia
They are the oldest car company in South Korea and their name
translates to "Arising in Asia".
Land
Rover
Land rover was one of the first civilian all-terrain utility
vehicles and was first produced in 1948. Ownership of the
Land Rover is now owned by the Ford Motor Company but has,
in the past, been owned by Rover, British Leyland and British
Aerospace.
Lexus
This is a brand name for Toyota and is used in North America,
Middles East, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Oceania
for their luxury models.
Lotus
Based in East Anglia, Lotus is a maker of sports and racing
cars was was formed by Colin Chapman in 1952.
Mazda
Based in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda manufactured approximately
800,000 cars in 2005.
Mercedes
Benz
Mercedes not only builds cars, but also buses, coaches and
trucks and is a brand of the DaimlerChrysler company.
MG
Cars
The MG manqué was manufacturing cars since 1924 and
originally stood for "Morris Garages" which was
a dealer of Morris cars in Oxford.
Mini
The Mini was produced by the British Motor Corporation and
its successors from 1959 to 2000. The New MINI launched in
2001.
Mitsubishi
Motors
Based in Japan, Mitsubishi is a producer of cars and trucks.
Morgan
Motors
The company was founded in 1910 by H. F. S. Morgan and was
run by his sun until his death in 2003.
Nissan
This company used to market vehicles under the Datsun brand
and is based in Japan.
Peugeot
As a major French motor car brand they started off manufacturing
bicycles at the end of the 19th Century.
Porsche
This German maker of sports cars was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand
Porsche who first founded Volkswagen.
Proton
Proton cars are manufactured by Perusahaan Otomobil
Nasional Sdn Bhd (Proton) and is based in Malaysia.
Renault
Producing small an upper-misize cars, vans, tractors and trucks,
Renault are based in France.:
Rolls
Royce
This is a collection of companies derived from the British
car and aero-engine manufacturing company founded in 1906
by Henry Royce and C. S. Rolls.
Saab
Founded in 1937, Saab make aircraft and cars and is based
in Linköping, Sweden.
Skania
Skania are a leading European truck, bus and diesel engine
manufacturer based in Södertälje, Sweden.
Seat
SEAT is now a subsidiary of Volkswagen and is the leading
car maker in Spain. It was originally founded in 1950 as a
subsidiary of Fiat and was part owned by the Spanish Government
under Francisco Franco. SEAT stands for "Sociedad Española
de Automóviles de Turismo" or "Spanish Corporation
of Private Cars".
Skoda
Based in the Czech Republic, Skoda are one of the oldest car
producers in the world, having been established in 1895 by
Laurin & Klement to manufacturer bicycles.
Subaru
As a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries and having owners
such as GM, Nissan and Toyota, the cars have a diverse range
of components from various companies.
Suzuki
From cars to motorcycles and from outboard motors to other
combustion-powered engines, Suzuki is a truely international
company as they have production facilities in 22 countries.
Toyota
This company is the second biggest car company in the world
and produces around eight million vehicles a year. They also
dominate their home market with approximately 40% of all new
cars registered in 2004 being a Toyota.
Vauxhall
This is a UK car company and is a subsidiary of General Motors.
Volvo
A leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles, buses and construction
equipment which was founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg,
Sweden and is Latin for "I roll".
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